The Las Vegas Raiders are hopeful that new head coach Klint Kubiak can turn around the team’s running game. Moreover, the Silver and Black invested in improving their offensive line by signing Tyler Linderbaum and Spencer Burford in free agency.
Meanwhile, in the draft, the Raiders drafted Trey Zuhn III in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft. With these moves, the Silver and Black are looking to improve their running game to allow Ashton Jeanty and Mike Washington Jr. to have a major impact on offense.
Jeanty is coming off a challenging 2025 season, but despite the issues with the Raiders’ offense, he still put up respectable numbers. He still recorded an overall PFF grade of 70.4 while playing 770 snaps for the Silver and Black last season.
Furthermore, Jeanty carried the ball 266 times for 975 rushing yards and five touchdowns as he averaged 3.7 yards per attempt on the ground while forcing 61 missed tackles as a runner.
Although Jeanty didn’t cross the 1,000-yard rushing mark, Raiders legend Marcus Allen sees the potential in what the second-year running back can be for Las Vegas.
“I think, obviously, when he gets a little bit of an opening, he can be special,” Allen said during a July 10 appearance on the NFL Network. “When you reflect back on last year, despite all [the challenges], I think he had a pretty good year. He showed a lot of promise, so I’m looking forward to him doing well this year as well.”
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Allen also said the Raiders must do a better job up front after Jeanty too often took hits in the backfield and had to shake off defenders before he could even reach a running lane.
“I talked to Ashton every now and then,” Allen noted. “I haven’t seen him lately, though. Of course, one Achilles’ heel is penetration. I think he got hit in the backfield more than any running back in the league last year. That’s something we can’t allow to happen. We have to create some holes for him.”
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With an improved offensive line with Linderbaum, Burford, Zuhn, and the return of Kolton Miller, plus potential improved play from some of the young players in the group, Las Vegas should be better running the football.
As a result, Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report recently noted that he believes Jeanty is the most promising building block for the Silver and Black in this rebuild that the team is undergoing.
“The Las Vegas Raiders certainly hope that rookie quarterback and first overall pick Fernando Mendoza will become a franchise building block in the not-too-distant future,” Knox wrote in a July 5 article. “With Kirk Cousins also in the fold, that may not happen this season.
“However, there’s a good chance that 2025 first-round pick Ashton Jeanty will emerge as a star this year. Jeanty, who was taken sixth overall out of Boise State, was expected to be a difference-making do-it-all running back in the mold of Saquon Barkley or Bijan Robinson.”
Raiders Legend Marcus Allen Issues Blunt Ashton Jeanty Message